Whisper in the Wind
by TakerReigns
Summary: Tempest was the fourth member of Team X-Treme. She grew up in Cameron with the Hardy boys and they were the ones who got her her shot in the WWF. But she has her secrets and one of them leads her to walk away from the WWF and the Hardys. What will happen when she comes face to face with one of the reasons she left WWF years later?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: WWF 2000**

**WWE Headquarters**

"So you'll be starting next week, at Wrestelmania 2000. You'll come at the end of the tag team match, as Edge and Christian are coming up the ramp and you'll Swanton Bomb them off the Titantron before they can go backstage. Then you'll look down at Matt and Jeff in the ring as their music starts playing, and run off," said Vince McMahon.

"Not a problem. Jeff taught me that move years ago," Courtney Jane Samuels, aka C.J., replied.

"And you're not afraid of heights, are you?"

"Not at all, Sir."

"We're not going to tell the Hardyz that we've signed you. We don't want this to leak out to anyone. So, over the next week, just get your character ready, change your hair like we told you to, get your ring gear ready, and keep it cool. Don't even let those boys know that you're gonna be in Anaheim for Wrestlemania."

"They think I've got family obligations keeping me in Cameron, Sir. They've already tried to ask me to be their guest to the event. I'll keep my distance from them between now and then. I've got an appointment to get my hair done on Wednesday and they told me I'll fly to California on Thursday night, Sir. I won't be anywhere they will between now and Thursday night, Sir."

"What color are they having you do your hair?"

"They asked me to dye it blue."

"You'll stand out among the women in the division when we debut you fully."

I laughed.

"Thank you so much for these opportunities, Mr. McMahon, Sir."

"Thank Matt and Jeff. They've been pitching you to me for months, leaving me videos from OMEGA of matches you've done. You're impressive, not afraid to take risks, to take a hit. You are exactly the type of girl we are looking for as we take the company into a new era, C.J."

"I still appreciate you giving me the chance. I will do my best, Sir. I promise."

"I'm sure you will. I will see you at Wrestlemania. In the meantime, I'm sure that others will be in touch with you. Good luck, C.J."

"Thank you, Sir."

I shook Mr. McMahon's hand and left his office. As I left the WWF Headquarters, I felt guilty about lying to Matt and Jeff. I'd known them my entire life and we were always as close as you could be, but the boss said nobody can know. My cell phone rang and I pulled it out of my pocket. It was Jeff. I answered.

"Hey, Nero," I said.

"Hey C.J. I was just wondering if there was _any_ way I could talk you into coming to Anaheim this weekend. It's such a _huge_ match for me and Matt. It would mean the world to us," he said to me.

For him, maybe. But I had to say no.

"Sorry, Jeff. I have to stay in Cameron. David is coming home and you know how Dad is about the family being together," I lied to him, feeling guilty.

I never lied to Jeff. It was a strange phenomenon.

"I know, but you're an adult and you'd have a lot more fun in Cali," Jeff tried to convince me.

"I know I would, but I can't. I'm sorry, Jeff."

"It's okay. I had to try."

"Good luck to you guys though. I'll be recording it so I can watch it when they go to bed," I lied again.

"Thanks."

My phone beeped. It was a Connecticut number. Someone from the company.

"I'm sorry, Jeff, but I have to go. I'll call you later?"

"Sure. Love you, C.J."

"Love you, too."

We hung up and I went back to my business of hiding my news from him.

**Anaheim, California: Wrestlemania 2000**

My light brunette hair was replaced by a royal blue color that I was still getting used to. In hair and make-up, they made a big deal about how natural the blue color looked on me. When I was ready, I was kept out of sight, but where I could watch the event, until it was my time to go. As the tag match began, I was brought to the gorilla position to watch the match, so when it was over, I could get in position for my big debut.

Matt went through a table and that was when I was told to get on top of the Titantron. I saw as Edge and Christian climbed the ladder and pulled down Devon and Bubba Ray Dudley's Tag Championship belts, becoming the new Tag Team Champions. As Edge and Christian made their way up the ramp, I watched them carefully, waiting for them to get close enough.

Once they were in a close enough distance, I screamed out, getting people's attention, then performed the Swanton Bomb off the Titantron. Edge and Christian went down as I landed on them. The Hardyz music, "Loaded", and the boys looked up to the stage area where I had just dropped their competitors. I turned and ran backstage after I was sure they had seen me.

I was ushered to the trainer's room to make sure I wasn't injured after the Swanton Bomb I had just performed. Getting the all-clear, I left the room and walked right into two tall North Carolinians who were grinning at me. They threw their arms around me and then carried me on their shoulders to the locker room they were sharing with Edge, Christian, and the Dudleys. When we got there, we were the only ones there.

"Why didn't you tell us?!" Jeff exclaimed.

"I couldn't. It was part of my contract, and McMahon himself told me _nobody_ can know. He didn't want to risk it being leaked."

"That was awesome, C.J. You should've seen the look on Adam and Jason's faces," Matt said.

"Thanks. And thanks for pushing me to McMahon. He called me a few months ago. He sent me to a few shows, ones that you weren't doing, to test me out. He liked what he saw, so he wanted me to come out to exact revenge on Edge and Christian for what happened during your match today."

"So this is why you've been telling us you couldn't come with us?" Matt asked.

"Yup. Sorry. I've felt really bad about lying, but I was told nobody can know. Even the other day, Jeff, when you called me, I had just left a meeting with Vince McMahon at WWF Headquarters."

"I like your hair, C.J."

"Thanks," I said before the other four wrestlers that shared the locker room came in.

"Who the hell is that crazy girl?!" Yelled Christian.

"Relax, Jason, this is our friend, Courtney. She's new around here. McMahon told her to come out and Swanton you two at the end of the match," Matt explained.

"Nice Swanton," Bubba Ray said to me.

"You got guts. You should fight with us in a TLC match sometime," Devon said.

"Thanks."

"No. No. No!" exclaimed Edge. "This girl is crazier than these two! She should not compete in a TLC match! She Swantoned us from off the _Titantron_!"

"Adam, relax. She was just doing what she was told. If you have a problem, take it up with Vince," Jeff said defending me.

"So what's your gimmick gonna be Courtney?" Bubba asked.

"C.J."

"What?" he asked.

"Call me C.J. Nobody really calls me Courtney and I prefer it that way."

"What's the middle initial?" Devon asked.

"Jane," I answered.

"Okay, C.J., I'm Mark and his name really is Devon," Bubba said. "So what's your gimmick?"

"Right now, I think I'm just gonna be hanging with the Hardyz, which is fine by me. It's what I've done my whole life."

"When did you guys meet?"

"When she was a few months old. Our fathers were friends. She's two years younger than me," Jeff answered for me.

"So you guys really _have_ been hanging out her entire life," Devon said.

"Yup. We'd do anything for this girl," Matt said.

"And I'd do anything for them," I said.

"How sickeningly sweet," Jason said.

"So the six of us will be seeing a lot of you?" Adam asked.

"Yup. Get ready boys, I'm here to stay. At least for now," I said, smiling as Jeff and Matt embraced me.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: On the Road**

When Lita, aka Amy Dumas, left Essa Rios and joined us, Team X-Treme was complete. No other tag team in the business was like us. Sure, there were high-flying wrestlers, but they were all guys. No tag teams had women like me and Amy on their side. We were just as tough as the guys and just as crazy with the stunts we pulled as Matt and Jeff.

We were on top of the world. At King of the Ring, I made my official Pay-Per-View debut at The Hardy Boyz side, along with Lita, who was new to Team X-Treme. It was great, I was traveling all over with my three best friends, doing what I loved to do.

Going into Boston, Lita and my character, Tempest, had developed a rivalry with Trish Stratus who was the valet for T&A, aka Test and Albert. Trish was a tough diva and out of the ring, she and Amy were actually very close, but in the ring, she was one brutal bitch, known to beat on me and Lita with leather belts and anything else she could get her hands on. She had even been known to send Test and Albert after us if she found us without Matt or Jeff.

As the match started, Lita and I were in Matt and Jeff's corner as the boys went back and forth in the ring in the elimination tag match. Trish came over to our side and tried to hit Lita with her belt so I grabbed her from behind and hit a backbreaker on her. Lita jumped up on the apron and hit her with a Litasault.

"Shouldn't have done that, Baby," Test said as he threw me, shoulder first, into the barricade.

Pain exploded into my body. I was seeing spots, he threw me harder than he should have. He picked me back up, and hit me with the Gutwrech Suplex. Out of rage, I got back to my feet, ignoring the pain in my body. In the back of my head, I heard Lita trying to get Jeff's attention. Knowing I had only one chance to do what I needed to do, I got close to Test, and with the cat-reflexes I'd always had growing up, I jumped up and locked my legs around his neck, throwing him as I shifted my body weight, hitting him with a Hurricanrana. When I hit the ground, I went to the barricade and just put my back against it, the pain exploding. Test had gotten back up and he was pissed off. Jeff was on the top rope and he didn't see him. He hit him with a Swanton Bomb before coming over to me.

"Are you alright?" he asked me.

"I'm fine. Worry about the match," I drawled, finding it hard to hide the full force of my North Carolina drawl while I was in pain.

Test started to stir near the barricade. Lita came over to us.

"Poetry in Motion, Jeff. I'll do it with you," she said to him.

"Come on," he said as he did a slide over by Test.

Lita ran and jumped at Test. It bashed him into the barricade and he went back down. Jeff helped Lita back up. Trish had come back over to me before they got back to me and the two of us were going at it near our corner. She had hit me in the back hard with the leather belt again. I grabbed her and hit her with the Twist of Fate, leaving her on the ground.

Albert saw what was going on outside and chased Test back to their corner so he could tag him in. Matt tagged Jeff in and the two of them went at it for a few minutes. Jeff hit test with the Swanton Bomb and tagged Matt back in who pinned him. T&A were eliminated. They grabbed Trish and had to leave ringside. Edge & Christian came in to take on Matt & Jeff next.

Everything went back and forth between these two teams. Lita and I kept trying to distract Edge & Christian without getting Matt & Jeff eliminated. Ultimately, Matt was on the receiving end of Christian's Impaler. Christian pinned Matt and the Hardy Boyz were eliminated. Jeff came right to me to help me up. When he put his arm around my waist I winced and flinched.

"Are you alright?"

"That belt stings," I drawled with a half-smile.

He helped me to the back, my hair falling around my face hiding some of the pain I was in, as well as some of the other things I was feeling.

"Hey! Is she okay?" Mark asked when Jeff got me in the back.

"I'm gonna be fine, Mark," I said. "I can take a belt to the back."

"What about that suplex?" Devon asked.

"Been suplexed before."

"You look like you're in a lot of pain, C.J." Jeff said, letting me go and inhaling deeply before grabbing me again. "We're going to the trainers' room."

"Why?" I asked.

"You have a bruise that matches the barricade already. It's bad, C.J." Matt said to me.

"You two," I said pointing to Matt and Jeff, "go get cleaned up. You're sweaty and tired."

"But C.J." Jeff tried to protest.

"Amy, will you come with me to the trainers' room?"

"Sure," she said to me.

"Mark, Devon, good luck with your match if I don't see you before."

Amy took me to the trainers' room, where they told me that I bruised my ribs but I should go to the hospital to be sure that there were no breaks. They wanted to call an ambulance, but I said no. It took a little work, but I got them to agree to let me take myself to the hospital. I had no intention of going, but they let me go. Amy and I left the trainers' room with my ribs bandaged and went to find the boys.

"So, what's the damage?" Matt asked.

"Bruised ribs," I replied.

"They want her to go to the hospital for x-rays. She said she'd go on her own."

I groaned to myself. I didn't think that Amy would tell the boys if I didn't mention it, but she was dating Matt. Jeff grabbed his bag and mine before draping his hoodie over me.

"Let's go," he said to me.

"Where?" I asked, worried about what he'd say.

"To the hospital for x-rays."

"I'm fine, guys."

"Courtney," Matt said in a warning tone.

I looked at him. I really didn't want to go to the hospital. I avoided them like the plague because I had old injuries I didn't like people knowing about. Looking at Matt, I knew I had no choice. If I didn't go with Jeff, he'd drag me with him and then the hospital would have all four of us there.

"Fine. But I don't like this. I don't think I need to go," I said, letting them know how I felt.

Jeff and I left Matt and Amy at the arena. When we got to the hospital, the nurse asked why we were there and Jeff told me to open the sweater and show her my back.

"What in god's name happened?" she asked.

"I'm a professional wrestler and my opponent tonight hit me harder than he was supposed to," I said.

"With what?" she asked. "Those bruises are not from a hand."

"Actually, he threw me into the barricade and then onto the floor. Not to mention, his partner kept hitting me with a belt," I said and she just looked at me with pure shock on her face. "I think I'll be fine, but our trainers wanted me to come in for x-rays to make sure nothing was broken. They already checked me out at the Fleet Center."

"Wait, you're with the WWF?" she asked.

"Yes, Ma'am," Jeff said.

"Alright, wait here," she said, leaving for a minute and coming back with a hospital gown. "Change into this."

I groaned and changed.

"I hate you for this, Jeff."

"Why?" he asked, laughing.

"You know I hate going to the hospital."

"Your back looks bad, C.J."

"I'm okay. It doesn't even hurt that much since they wrapped me up back at the Fleet Center."

"I'm just trying to take care of you. You know I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

_If only you knew._ I thought to myself.

The doctor came in fifteen minutes later and felt around my back and ribs. With the swelling, he agreed that x-rays were necessary, so he ordered them. After the x-rays were done, I was wrapped back up.

"You have no fresh breaks to your ribs," the doctor said and I refused to look at Jeff.

"Fresh?" he asked the doctor.

"She has several older, healed breaks to her ribs," he explained.

I knew this, but I wasn't going to say anything.

"Your trainers were right to be concerned, but there's nothing to be worried about. Ice is your new friend, Ms. Samuels. The bruising will go away on its own. If the pain gets worse, come back to the hospital. Try not to overdo it for the next week."

"Does that mean no matches for a week?"

"How brutal are her matches normally? Or is this normal?"

"Doc, I'm a high-flyer. I put my body on the line more than some of the other wrestlers, doing flips and other moves off the ropes and top of the ring to the floor."

"Then you need to sit out for the week."

"I have my big match against Chyna on Thursday!" I told Jeff.

"Chyna? _The_ Chyna, the one who fights the men in the WWF?"

I nodded.

"Absolutely not, Ms. Samuels. She is too much for you to handle with your back and ribs being bruised like this. You need the week off. Go home. Get off the road for a week and relax," the doctor said.

"The road is my home, Doc. My job is my life," I said to him.

"You need to take it easy."

"Maybe she can be a valet for the week? It's about half as much physicality, Doc. Most of it is just coming out with the guys and staying ringside for the matches," Jeff said picking up that I didn't want to go home.

"Yeah, I'd be escorting Matt and Jeff to the ring. Some tricks involved, but I'm not the only one who escorts them," I said.

"Wait, you're Tempest?" the doctor said, finally realizing who we were.

I nodded.

"Fine. You can valet for the week, no matches though."

"Alright."

"And you need to soak in ice. It will help with both your pain and the swelling."

"Thanks, Doc."

He wrote something down and handed me a prescription. It was a pain medication.

"No thanks, Doc. I don't take those," I said to him.

"It's just a muscle relaxant. It will help your back."

"I know. I don't take them."

"If you're sure…"

"I am, thanks."

"I'll get your discharge papers going," he said as he walked away.

I started getting dressed again as Jeff had his back to me.

"What was that about, C.J.?" Jeff asked.

"What do you mean?"

"The old breaks. Are they from Omega?"

"No."

"Then what?"

"Just old injuries. No big deal."

"What are they from?"

"It's not a big deal, Jeff. Please don't press this."

He sighed.

"Fine."

We got the discharge papers and went back to the hotel. When we got there, I found that Matt and Amy had turned mine and Jeff's bathtub into an ice bath. I changed and got into the tub, with Jeff sitting on the bathroom floor next to me.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah. I'm sore, that's all. I didn't expect Andy to throw me that hard into the barricade and I really didn't expect the suplex."

"He didn't talk to you about that beforehand?"

"No. I knew he was gonna throw me into the barricade after me, Amy, and Trish got into it, but I didn't know about the suplex."

"I'm gonna beat his ass."

"No. It's not worth it. I'm fine. I'll talk to him and find out what the hell tomorrow."

We kinda stayed in an okay silence after that. When the ice melted, I got out of the tub and Jeff was waiting with a towel and my robe. After I got dried and dressed he helped me dry my hair. We curled up in his bed to watch a movie together, and I fell asleep on him, like I used to when we were kids.

**One Month Later**

We were backstage at the Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas, waiting for our handicap match against Trish Stratus, Test and Albert. I was pissed off and eager. When I tried to talk to Test after King of the Ring about the Suplex he just shrugged at me. I was dying to get into the ring with them again. In the weeks leading into Fully Loaded I had been the member of Team X-Treme that everyone else looked out for most. I appreciated it, but I wasn't a porcelain doll and could take a hit. If I couldn't I would've quit.

Trish, Test & Albert went to the ring first. They showed a recap of what led up to the match, the exchanges of wins and losses between the two teams, Lita and me feuding with Trish, ending with Trish putting Lita through a table from the top of a ladder just days before the event. It made my blood boil. Lita was still bruised as badly as I was after King of the Ring. She was in no shape to go into this match, yet she wasn't going to stand down.

"Aimes, just let the three of us take most of the bumps, alright? We'll keep you covered and then you end the match," I said to her as I gave her a hug. "Let us protect you the way you helped protect me for the last month."

She hugged me back and nodded. Our music started and the four of us went out. I stayed close to Lita. Matt and Jeff went right for Test and Albert. We went right for Trish. Test tried to get in our way, which made Lita back off, but I hit him with a hurricanrana, knocking him to the ground, before hitting Trish with a clothesline, and then I went back to our corner.

Matt and Albert started the match. Albert dominated Matt with his strength, but Matt did get in some good high-risk moves before tagging in Jeff. Things went back and forth for a bit. Finally, Trish was tagged in and Matt, raised not to hit girls when he can help it, tagged in Lita. Trish ran off and tagged in Albert. Lita ran because she wasn't ready to face him. I jumped in the ring to distract him while she tried to get to one of the boys to tag them in.

He hit me with a sidewalk slam that left me breathless. I got up and kicked his knees out from underneath him, then hit him with a moonsault. By this point, Lita tagged in Jeff. Jeff and Albert went at it as I made my way back to the corner.

"Are you alright?" Lita asked.

"I'm good. A bit winded."

"Sorry, I didn't think she'd tag him in _that_ fast."

"It's okay. We said we'd take most of the bumps for you. We meant it. You need your back to heal. We all need you to heal."

Things started getting out of control. I jumped back into the ring, to help Jeff and Matt, Lita at my side. It took a minute for the ref to separate all seven of us, but when he did, the legal men in the ring were me and Trish. I hit her with a backbreaker and covered her for the pin. Albert came and pulled me off of her. Matt jumped in to get Albert off of me. In that minute, Trish took the distraction to tag Test in.

"You can't hurt me."

I made it look like I was gonna go for a hurricanrana on him, which I knew he'd expect from me. Instead, I hit him with a baseball slid, taking out his legs. While he was down on his knees, I hit him with a kick to the back of the head which knocked him down completely. I covered him and Trish jumped into the ring and attacked me.

Making my way to my corner, I tagged Lita back in and went to work on Trish. Lita hit Test with a Tornado DDT. Matt, Jeff and I did our best to keep Trish and Albert distracted, but it didn't work completely. Test kicked out at two and attacked Lita, leaving her curled up in pain in the ring. He made his way to the corner where Trish was waiting to be tagged in. Trish came in and tried to cover Lita, but Lita wasn't having it. After going back and forth for a few minutes, Lita hit Trish with a Litasault and pinned her. While Matt and Jeff took on Test and Albert outside the ring, I jumped back into the ring knowing that Trish was going to go nuts that she lost.

Albert knocked Lita down and the boys made their way into the ring. Test and Albert leveled Matt, then Jeff. It was only me that hadn't been leveled and I had been fighting with Trish. Test knocked me to the mat, but before they could do anything, I rolled out of the ring. When Trish went to hit Lita in the back with the belt I jumped back in, hitting Albert with the hurricanrana, then Test with the Twist of Fate, distracting her. She turned to me instead, like I was planning. Lita was already hurt. Trish raised the belt and that was where the move went wrong. I was mid-maneuver on Test and when she went to hit me she hit me in the face with the belt instead.

Matt and Jeff saw me grab my face. They jumped up and chased the other team out of the ring. Matt helped Lita, who had taken a few hits, but not as many as should would have alone, with the belt, out of the ring. Jeff helped me, pulling me close to him. The boys held their girls close as we left the ring. By the time we reached the dressing room, I already had a welt on my face.

Mark and Devon had ice for me and Amy by the time we reached the backstage area. Mark went with Matt to help ice Amy's back. I went off with Devon on my own so Jeff could get taken care of.

"Why wouldn't you let Jeff stay with you?" Devon asked me.

"He needs to get checked out. He took more of a beating then me."

"He's worried about you."

"I'm okay and he worries too much. I'm a big girl. If he stayed, he would've tried to get me to go to the hospital. It's a welt. Not like I've never had one before. I'm tough."

"I see that, Girl. You sure you're not really a New Yorker?"

We laughed. It hurt, but it made me feel better.

"Nope. Born and raised in Cameron. Just tougher than most because I grew up with these two, I guess."

Devon gave me a hug.

"No wonder Vince wanted you. I don't think any of the women around here take the bumps you and Amy do without the complaints. Not that they complain a lot, but you two complain about people making a big deal," he said laughing.

"That and I'm a risk-taker."

"True. So when are we gonna get you in a TLC match?"

"Who knows?"

Jeff came back from the trainers' room then and pulled me into his lap, taking the ice into his hand and holding it on my face.

"I got her, Devon. Thanks for helping out with her."

"He doesn't have to leave, Jeff. He's my friend, you know. We were talking about me doing more extreme matches."

"Not until you don't get hurt like this, C.J."

"What?" I said getting up from him, going closer to Devon. "This wasn't my mistake. Trish jumped the gun with the belt. Why are you acting like it was something I did?"

Jeff realized he messed up.

"That came out wrong. I'm sorry, C.J. You didn't do anything wrong, but I don't want you to get hurt and in the last six months this is the second time you've been hurt because we pushed to get you here."

"I can take care of myself, Jeffrey," I said in a warning tone.

"Maybe I should go help Mark and Matt," Devon said, leaving Jeff and I alone.

"I know you can. I just hate seeing you in pain."

"I can handle pain. Worry when I start complaining that I hurt."

Matt came in to check on me and Jeff.

"What's going on with you two? Devon said he was worried you two might get into an argument."

"Jeff is trying to coddle me. I wanna be treated like an equal here, nothing less. You two may have pushed me, but I _earned_ my way here. Act like it. I can take a hit like any of the guys and you know it. Stop trying to baby me. I'm not five."

"Jeff?"

"I'm just worried about her, Matt."

"Don't," I said. "I'm not going to break apart if I get some bruises, cuts or even a broken bone. I can handle them. I can't handle you two going nuts every time I get a bruise."

"Alright," Jeff conceded. "I'm sorry, C.J. I love you."

He came over and hugged me. I hugged him back.

"I love you too, Jeff. Just knock this off before I knock you on your ass."

"Noted," he laughed into my hair.

"Better?" Matt asked.

"Yeah, man," Jeff said.

"Sorry you had to fix this sibling rivalry," I said laughing.

We all had a good laugh before we checked on Amy, packed up and got ready to go back to the hotel. Another night, another city, another arena, another show. We weren't perfect, but we were having a blast working together.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: Wrestlemania X-7**

In the months following Fully Loaded the creative team brought Matt and Amy's relationship into the storyline. Slowly they were also bringing me and Amy into the singles women's competition, with Matt and Jeff as our managers. In mid-March 2001, I was called into a meeting with the senior talent coordinator just before the taping of Raw started.

"So, C.J.," David started. "You know that Wrestlemania 17 is in just two weeks."

"Of course. Everyone in the locker room is going nuts over everything that's gonna happen."

"Well that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"What about it?"

"We want you to do more than just escort Jeff and Matt for their TLC match."

"Okay. What were you thinking?"

"We want to put you in the match with Chyna and Ivory for the WWF Women's Championship."

I didn't know what to say. A push for the Women's Championship belt? That was what every woman in the locker room wanted.

"So are you up for the match? We understand you've only been here for a year, but your debut was one of the top ranked with fans and you just got better once we put you on screen regularly. You deserve it."

"Yes. Thank you."

"Great. It will be announced at Raw next week, just before Wrestlemania, so minimize the number of people you tell. Obviously I know you're going to tell Matt, Jeff, and Amy, but try not to tell too many other people. We don't want this to get leaked."

"I won't. I promise."

"I believe you. You didn't even tell Matt and Jeff about your debut because we asked you not to last year. We know you can keep information to yourself when you're asked to," he said. "Oh, and one other thing. We want you to change your hair color. After Raw next week is done, we want you to go dye your hair a shade of purple. You can decide what shade, we just want it purple."

"No problem. I'll call and set the appointment up for the day after the taping."

"Great."

I left the office and went back to the locker room where I knew Matt, Jeff, and Amy would be waiting for me. I was all but flying as I ran the halls backstage to the locker room. When I got to the locker room, I scared the rest of my stable.

"What's got you so happy right now, C.J.?" Matt asked.

"I just had a meeting about Wrestlemania!"

"What happened?" Jeff and Amy asked at once.

"I'm getting a championship match!"

"Wait, I thought it was gonna be Chyna versus Ivory," Amy said.

"They decided to make it a Triple Threat and add me in," I said still bouncing.

They all hugged me and congratulated me. It made the moment even better. Not only were Matt and Jeff happy for me, but Amy was genuinely happy for me and not jealous.

The following week at Raw I was given a match versus Chyna. It wasn't an easy match, she is one of the toughest wrestlers anywhere, but speed and agility can beat out brute strength if played right. That was my game plan and it worked. When the match ended and I was announced the winner, Mr. McMahon himself came out to the stage.

"Chyna, you are the number one contender for the Women's Championship. But after this showing, I'm not sure you're worthy," Mr. McMahon said.

"That's my match!" Chyna yelled up at him.

"Tempest on the other hand is smaller than you, newer than you, and just beat you."

Chyna glared at me.

"That is why I have decided to change the Women's Championship match for Wrestlemania."

"You can't do that!" she screamed at him.

"Actually, I can, and I am," McMahon replied. "This Sunday at Wrestlemania, the Women's Champion, Ivory, will defend her title in a _Triple Threat Match_ against Chyna _and _Tempest!"

McMahon walked off the stage as the crowd went wild. Chyna went to come at me, but I had climbed up on the top rope as Mr. McMahon spoke so when she turned to me, I hit her with Whisper in the Wind and rolled out of the ring, heading back to the locker room.

The week leading up to Wrestlemania was chaotic. The WWE always did meet and greets, press conferences, photo shoots, and charity events. Jeff came with me when I dyed my hair, so we got to hang out before we got thrown into the chaos.

When Jeff and I woke up the morning of Wrestlemania, it was surreal to me. I had been at Wrestlemania the year before, but I had to hide from him and Matt. This year, I was with them, and I had my first championship match.

"So what do you wanna do first, C.J.?" Jeff asked me as he jumped onto my bed.

I grabbed his ankle and made him fall onto the bed.

"Sleep in," I drawled, as I pulled the covers up over my head.

He pulled the covers off of me and I yelped.

"Not gonna happen. Get outta bed."

I got up and got in the shower. When I felt vaguely human again, Jeff and I went for breakfast. On our way down, David grabbed Jeff.

"I'll meet you in the car, C.J.," he said as he handed me the keys.

I shrugged and went down to the car. I was waiting in the car, messing around with his radio stations when he got in and slapped my hand.

"How many times I gotta tell you none of that?" he asked and we started laughing.

After breakfast, Jeff and I had a meet and greet with Matt and Amy... I was surprised by the number of fans who were lined up waiting to see _all_ of us. I was sweating under the wig they had me wearing until my match so nobody knew I changed my hair, but it was worth it to see all these fans.

Matt and Amy came with us for a workout after the signing. We all pushed each other to our limits in preparation for Wrestlemania. We went out to lunch together, and too soon, we were backstage at the arena.

Amy was helping me get ready for my match when I noticed Matt and Jeff slip out together.

"What's up with them?" I asked Amy.

"I don't know. They've been whispering like schoolgirls all day, as if we wouldn't notice."

We didn't see Matt and Jeff before my match again. I put it out of my mind. I had bigger things to focus on, Ivory and Chyna. The Women's Championship match I would have tonight. Amy walked me to gorilla, but for some reason, we were told that I had to go ringside alone. It was the first time that any member of Team X-Treme was ordered to be in the ring without at least one member at ringside.

I was the first of the three women to go out to the ring. Chyna came after me, then finally, Ivory, being the champion came out. I got the biggest pop, I was clearly the fan favorite for the title. It was amazing being out there. I was the smallest woman in the ring and I knew what I could offer that the other two couldn't, I was excited.

The bell rang and things went quickly. Chyna went for Ivory right away with some heavy blows. I took Chyna out at the knees. Ivory got back up before Chyna could focus on me too much and she hit her with her finisher and went to pin her. When she did, I got up on the top rope, hit her with a Moonsault, followed it with a Swanton Bomb, just to be on the safe side, and then covered her for the pin. The match was over. I was the new Women's Champion.

Chyna got up and glared at me before swearing she'd get that title from me and storming out of the ring. Ivory said she'd prove I couldn't handle her alone in the rematch before turning and leaving as well. I stood in the middle of the ring, with Earl Hebner holding my hand up in victory in complete shock.

I stood in the ring for a minute just taking it all in. When I turned to face the crowd opposite the ramp, Jeff was standing there with a smirk on his face. He lifted me up and spun me around before putting me up on his shoulder, showing everyone the new Women's Champion.

As he slid me off his shoulder he pulled me into a deep kiss, and for a moment my heart stopped beating. I had had feelings for Jeff since I was fourteen years old. He was my first crush, possibly my first love, but he was always like family to me and I'd always kept that to myself. Nobody knew about that, especially not Jeff.

We left the ring and went up the ramp with his arm around my shoulders, keeping me close. When we got backstage, we were interviewed by Michael Cole. I still couldn't believe everything going on around me.

"So, Tempest, what was it like to go into the Women's Championship match the underdog and walk out with the belt on your shoulder?" he asked me.

"I'm still in shock."

"What about you and Jeff here? Were you hiding this from all of us or is this something new?"

"Tempest has known Matt and I since we were kids in Cameron, Michael. Since she's been here I've seen more and more she's perfect for me, so I decided to surprise her in the ring tonight. She had no idea."

"How do you feel about Jeff's confession, Tempest?"

"We'll see," I said as I turned to him and we walked away.

Reaching out locker room, Amy and Matt were lit up with excitement.

"Congratulations, C.J.!" Matt exclaimed as he picked me up the way he did when we were kids.

"Yeah, congrats, C.J. Now the belt will be mine," Amy said with a laugh.

"Thanks, but can you guys go get me something to snack on before the other match? My match may have been short, but it really drained me."

"Come on Amy. I think these two need to talk," Matt said.

Matt and Amy left and I was alone with Jeff for the first time since he kissed me. Suddenly, I didn't know what to say. For the first time in my life, I was nervous around Jeff Hardy.

"What's up, C.J.?"

"Nothing."

"You've always been a bad liar."

"It doesn't matter. I don't want to talk about it."

"You're stubborn, girl. Has anyone told you that before?"

"You and Matt. Maybe a few thousand times."

He cracked a smile and I let things go.

"So, what are we doing with your match later?"

"You and Amy are managing us. The normal, distractions, interfere where you can, get involved where you can. We already know Spike and Rhyno are going to for the Dudleys and Edge & Christian. I'm fine with The Dudleys retaining, but help us make sure that Edge & Christian do _not _walk out of here with the Tag Championships. Alright?"

I took a minute to respond.

"Wait, you're actually telling me to _participate in a TLC match?_ To make sure that anyone but Edge & Christian walk out with the title?"

"Yes. Please. Adam and Jason are friends, but they are worse than dogs with bones with a title. Nobody will get it away from them if they get them tonight."

"Alright, but I don't want to hear anything later tonight about injuries or anything. No going overprotective of me."

"But…"

"But nothing. I just took on Chyna _and _Ivory. I think I've proven I can take my bumps around here. No more being big brother over every bump and bruise. Got it?"

He hesitated, but finally gave it.

"Fine."

"And you better make sure that Matt knows this too."

At that moment, Amy and Matt walked into the room.

"That I know what?"

"From now on, I don't care what the match or the stipulations are, you and Jeff are not allowed to freak out over every bump and bruise. Jeff just told me that you guys want me and Amy to get involved in the TLC match. Fine. There is no going back from that. You trust me enough to go for that, you need to back off on everything else. Deal?"

"Sounds good to me. It's fair."

Jeff glared at Matt.

"What? She's right! We can't treat her like a little girl when we want to and then ask her to get involved in one of the most dangerous matches ever. We're doing this, we're doing this her way."

I had just finished a gatorade when the stage hand came to let us know that it was time to go. Now, when Team X-Treme entered, Amy entered at Matt's side and I entered at Jeff's. It was weird.

The match started with The Dudleys' belts suspended over the center of the ring. Spike Dudley was running around setting up tables for Bubba and Devon to slam the others through while Rhyno was doing that and goring them, his version of a spear, but much more painful. Lita and I were running around, pulling competitors off ladders, knocking ladders over, hitting them with chairs, the works.

At one point, Spike Dudley came to try to stop us. Lita and I hit him with Whisper in the Wind into the outside barricade. Apparently, Bubba and Devon didn't like that. They came after Lita and me, threatening to put us through a table. I on the other hand, noticed that Edge and Christian were going for the belts. So, I slid into the ring and knocked them off the ladder and through some tables. Jeff got on top of another ladder and Swantoned them from on top of the table. Matt started to climb the ladder and I saw Bubba go for another ladder to beat him to the top. I climbed the ladder, kicked him down, and Swantoned him from the top of the ladder.

"You okay, C.J.?" he whispered to me.

"Having the time of my life," I replied, laughing.

"Good," he said as he got up quickly, holding me.

"DEVON! GET THE TABLES!"

Devon slid into the ring and positioned a table, but the last thing they expected happened. Lita came from behind Devon and, with a drop kick off the top rope, put Devon through the table instead. Matt came and knocked Bubba to his knees and I escaped, only to get gored by Rhyno for putting Edge and Christian through the tables. They still hadn't gotten up.

Jeff took Rhyno's legs out with a baseball sweep, ran up the ring ropes and hit Rhyno with Whisper in the Wind. Matt had set a ladder back up to go for the belts. He and Jeff started climbing. Lita and I kept the ground clear for them, to keep anyone from knocking the ladder out from underneath them. Just as Matt and Jeff unhooked the belts, Lita and I got speared. Lita was gored by Rhyno and I was speared by Edge.

"You really are out of your damn mind, C.J."

"You have no idea, Adam," I whispered back to him, trying to get my breath back.

"YOUR WINNERS AND NEW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS MATT AND JEFF HARDY OF TEAM X-TREME!"

I pushed Adam off of me and Jeff was at my side in a second. He helped me back to my feet as Matt did the same for Lita. The boys kissed us in the ring as they showed off their new titles before we all went backstage. I just wanted to get changed and back to the hotel room to take a nice, hot shower, but knew I couldn't really leave before the event ended. Lita, Matt, and Jeff got caught up in an interview that I discreetly slipped away from.

"You're not very talkative, are you?"

"For interviews? I already had mine. Let the boys and Lita shine right now. I'd rather take a hot shower and relax."

"You took some pretty hard hits out there."

"I'm not afraid of taking some hits. I wouldn't be here if you did."

Someone came up the hallway slowly.

"Undertaker, Sir. We need you in five," he practically stuttered.

"I'd like to see what you could do some time."

"Maybe. But you should go before they send that poor kid back and he has heart failure."

"Soak in Epsom Salt. It will help with the pain. I'll talk to you soon."

"Thanks, 'Taker."

"Mark. Call me Mark back here."

"Thanks, Mark."

He walked away and I was left to figure out what the hell was happening at Wrestlemania X-7. First Jeff kissing me. Then him and Matt asking me and Amy to get involved in their TLC match. Now the Undertaker giving me advice on dealing with pain? What was coming next?


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: The Brothers of Destruction**

After Wrestlemania, the boys wound up feuding with The Brothers of Destruction, which was supposed to be Edge & Christian's storyline. When they found that out, they thanked me and Amy for interfering. The four of us were sat down with Creative and told that as a way to throw Matt and Jeff off their game Undertaker and Kane would be messing around with me and Lita. However, me and Lita were also told that we were free to improvise to fight back, as long as we didn't hurt 'Taker and Kane, until one or both of us were told there was a change to the storyline.

At Smackdown a few weeks after Wrestlemania, Team X-Treme was at ringside waiting for the Brothers of Destruction to enter. Kane came out first and he came over to our side. He started playing with Lita's hair while she stood on the apron. She jumped onto the top rope and hit him with a Litacanrana before jumping into the ring and going to stand at Matt's side. Before I could hear Jeff tell me to get off the apron, Undertaker came riding out on his motorcycle.

As Undertaker made his ride around the ring, he slowed down by me and pulled me off the apron onto the bike with him. I had no idea he was going to do it. With one hand he was trying to force me to stay on the bike with him. It didn't work. I struggled to balance on the back of the bike as he got close to the ramp, away from the barricades that protected the fans. As he turned to face the bike towards the top of the ramp I kicked him in the back, forcing him to lose control of the bike a bit, but I did a flip off the bike as I kicked him, so I landed a few feet away.

Kane was standing behind me when I landed in a crouch, but thankfully, he didn't realize the rest of Team X-Treme, including Lita, were standing behind him. They attacked him and I got away before Undertaker could get back to his feet. Lita and I made our way to Matt and Jeff's corner to cheer them on.

Unfortunately, in this match, size and brute force beat out speed and agility. Kane and Undertaker demolished Matt and Jeff. At the end of the match they went after Lita because she tried to interfere in the match to give Matt and Jeff some breathing room. I was the only member of Team X-Treme still standing and I didn't know why, because I had done my share of interfering. I had knocked both brothers off the apron at different points in the match.

Suddenly, the Brothers of Destruction turned their gazes on me and a chill ran down my spine. I was backed into the corner, but before I could escape, they were there. With Matt, Jeff and Lita out cold in the middle of the ring I was on my own. They were being tended to by the trainers. Kane started playing with my hair and I swatted him away. He came back and I hit him with an enzuiguri kick to the back of the head. He went down.

When Kane went down, Undertaker grabbed me. As much as I struggled against him, I couldn't get away from him. He put me on his bike in front of him and started the bike.

"Tempest!" I heard Jeff call out to me.

"Jeff! Help!" I yelled back.

"You'll never get her back, Hardy!" Undertaker said with a laugh.

Kane got back up and grabbed Jeff from behind. He Tombstoned him, leaving him out cold again in the middle of the ring. Kane left the ring and the last thing I saw on the Titantron before Undertaker's bike was out of view was the paramedics putting Jeff on a stretcher next to the stretchers with Matt and Lita.

Mark took me to Team X-Treme's locker room. He let me go. I looked at him, confused.

"Grab your things and let's go," he said to me.

"Why? What's going on?"

"Change of story. You have a meeting with creative about it tomorrow, but I was told right before I came out for the match. Undertaker was to kidnap Tempest. They said they want you travelling with me so the fans don't get confused as to why I kidnapped you but you're still travelling with your stable. So, you're gonna be bunking with The Brothers of Destruction for a while."

I was in too much shock to say anything. Going into the locker room I packed my things. When I got outside, Mark put his arms around my shoulder and led me to his and Glenn's locker room, where Glenn was already waiting.

"So, you ready to travel with some real wrestlers, Tempest?" Glenn asked me.

"C.J. My name is C.J. And don't insult Matt and Jeff. They trained me. They pushed me to Vince. _And_ I've known them since I was in diapers. I take it personally when people talk shit about them. Especially people who got their asses handed to them by a couple of girls, Glenn," I drawled and Mark started grinning, as he patted Glenn on the back.

"I told you this one's a firecracker."

Mark and Glenn packed their things and we were out of the arena before Jeff, Amy, and Matt got out of the trainers' room. Instead of going back to the hotel for the night, Mark and Glenn went back and checked out. We were heading straight for the next city. Thankfully, because of their size, the two of them rented an SUV and I had the backseat to myself.

"So Mark, what did they tell you about this new storyline?"

"Not much. Pretty much we were to decimate Team X-Treme except you. You we were supposed to take with us. We'll be at the meeting with you tomorrow morning. Matt, Jeff, and Amy will have their own meeting later in the day."

"You're our little pet now, Tempest," Glenn said turning around and grinning at me.

"I'm nobody's pet, Darlin'. And if you call me that again, you'll wake up a girl," I said smiling back at him.

Mark started laughing.

"You've got spunk, Kid. Not many of the guys, never mind the girls in the locker room will talk to either of us like this," Mark said.

"When you fear nothing, there's nothing to stop you from running your mouth," I replied.

"You honestly have no fears?" Glenn asked disbelieving.

"What's to fear when you've been to hell and back, seen the worst that life can throw at you and are still grinning at the fates because they can't keep you down?"

I stretched out across the backseat and pretended to be resting. It was gonna be hours before we hit our next city.

"How much do you know about her, Mark?"

"I know she grew up in Cameron with the Hardy boys and she is one of the toughest women in the locker room even though she's one of the smaller ones. But I don't know much about her past."

"And we're travelling with her?"

"We're both twice her size, Glenn. Are you really telling me you're afraid of her?"

"She threatened to cut my balls off."

"She's a kid. A talented kid. Just calm yourself down."

I let myself drift off after that. When I woke up, we were in Cincinnati. My back was stiff from sleeping in the car. We were called right into the meeting at the hotel. In the meeting I was told that I was to stay with the Brothers of Destruction as their unwilling tag partner for a while. There would be attempts by Matt and Jeff to get me back, but I couldn't let them take me. Essentially, the threat against Tempest was the Brothers of Destruction would destroy me if I left them. So until further notice, I was supposed to try to throw their matches as a way of showing my fighting spirit, but I would be "punished" for doing it.

Not liking the idea of being "punished" I needed some air. I went for a walk, which probably wasn't the best thing to do on my own. I pulled out my cell phone and called Jeff.

"Are you okay? They didn't say anything about you being kidnapped."

"I'll be okay. I'm a little stressed out right now. I'm stuck in this for a bit. I don't like the fact that they said I'll be getting punished by the Brothers of Destruction, but there's not much I can do."

"Can you come meet me in my hotel room later?"

"I'll have to be careful. Mark and Glenn are pretty serious about making sure I don't get anywhere near you guys."

"You're good at sneaking around, C.J. You always have been."

"Three o'clock. Those two are going to work out. I'll tell them my back hurts from sleeping in the SUV. It's not a total lie."

"Sleeping in the SUV? C.J., where are you?"

"We're already in Cincinnati. We got here like two hours ago."

"Damn. No wonder we couldn't find you last night. I'll see you later. I love you."

"I love you too, Jeff."

We got off the phone and I got pushed up against the wall by a teenager with shaggy blonde hair.

"Give me your money," he said to me.

I went to reach for my pocket but grabbed him and put him in an armlock. I pushed him against the wall. It was then that I looked at him. He looked both determined and desperate to get the money from me. Looking closer, it looked like he didn't eat regularly.

"When was the last time you ate, kid?"

"I'm not a kid, Lady! I'll kick your ass!"

I let him out of the armlock but still kept my arm on my shoulder, making it clear I was in control now. He had wild blue eyes.

"Where are your parents?"

"How the fuck should I know?"

"How old are you?"

"Old enough."

"You're hungry."

"No shit. Give me your money and I'll get out of here."

"What's to stop me from calling the cops?"

"I don't give a fuck, lady."

"Someone's got issues."

"Give the woman a fucking degree in psychobabble."

"Yeah, well, I've got issues, too. Come on," I said as I pulled him by his shirt collar.

"Where the fuck you taking me?"

"A restaurant I saw a few blocks away."

He stopped dead in his tracks and stared at me.

"Why? I just tried to rob you."

I looked around to see if we were alone on the street. We were, which is why he tried to mug me in the first place. I pulled up the back of my shirt, enough to show some of my scars.

"Like I said, I have issues, too," I said as I pulled my shirt down. "Come on. You need to eat and I've been on the road all night anyway, so I should eat, too."

He just looked at me for a minute before we started walking again. We got to the restaurant and the waiter looked at the kid wearily.

"Don't worry. He's not here to cause trouble," I said.

"What about you?" the waiter asked as he sat us at a table.

"Why don't you get your manager and find out? You have no right to judge me based on how I look. Seriously, go get your manager."

The manager came over a minute later.

"Is there a problem?" he asked me while keeping an eye on the boy.

"Yes, your waiter tried to insinuate I was here to cause trouble because of the way I look. You wouldn't want that kind of publicity, now would you, Sir?"

"No, ma'am. It's just we don't have many trustworthy people who come in here looking like you."

"Well you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. I look like this for my job and we're only in Cincinnati for the night. Not everyone who dyes their hair weird colors and dresses like me is a criminal."

"Right, sorry, ma'am. I will make sure you are taken care of by a different waiter and I will overlook your bill before you pay. For your trouble I will take something off your bill."

"How about, you make sure this kid eats at least twice a day for the next week on the house or I call the WWF publicity team to get a team of reporters over here?"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I am a WWF wrestler and not only did your waiter offend me, he automatically assumed we were going to dine and ditch. Now, we can keep this under wraps, make sure your restaurant doesn't get blacklisted by the WWF, which would affect your bottom line in a lot of ways. You take care of this kid, and I will be checking to keep track of if you kept up your part of the bargain, or I have the reporters brought in."

"Deal. He will get three meals a day, free of charge, of his choosing for seven days starting tomorrow."

"Good. I'll pay our full bill today obviously."

"Yes ma'am," the manager said as he walked away.

"Why would you do that for me? You don't know me."

"So let's start by you telling me your name."

"Jon."

"Jon, I'm C.J."

"Do you really wrestle with the WWF?"

"Yep. Part of Team X-Treme, I go by Tempest."

"You wrestle with Jeff and Matt Hardy?"

"Usually. Right now they have me in with the Brothers of Destruction."

"You're wrestling with Undertaker and Kane?"

"Not by my choice, but yeah."

Jon was genuinely excited about the wrestling aspect of my life. We ordered lunch and continued talking.

"So tell me about you. Where are your parents?"

"Father was never around, Mom is probably passed out in the living room. She was pretty fucked up last night."

"Sorry. That's gotta suck."

"What would you know?"

"My mom died when I was little and my father and older brother like to beat the hell out of me for fun. I'm their favorite punching bag."

"You're a wrestler, why don't you stop them?"

"I started wrestling when I was like your age. I tried to stop my brother once, he nearly shattered my wrist and hand."

"So you fight like a girl," he said as a fact.

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Not really. I've almost always fought guys. I'm pretty tough, but my brother is a different story."

"Why didn't you call the cops on me?"

"And put you in either a group home or juvie? Not my style. You're just trying to take care of yourself."

"Says who?" he asked defensively.

"The way you're devouring your food like it's been a while since you've eaten."

"People don't care unless they want something. What do you want from me?"

"Nothing. I just figured I'd keep you outta trouble for a little while. Something tells me it's your pet puppy."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean trouble finds you wherever you go."

"That's true," he said as he finished off his second burger. "So are you really here for a WWF show tonight?"

"Yeah. We're taping Raw."

"That's cool. I only get to see things like that at home on my busted up tv."

I looked at the kid. I knew this was the time of a kid's life when the way they're treated could affect the way they look at the world for life.

"How would you like to come see the taping?"

"Lady you better not be kidding with me."

"No. I'm serious. You know where the arena is, right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Do you where the trucks and everything park?"

"I've seen it."

"Meet me there at five thirty. I'll get you into the arena."

I left Jon to head back to the hotel. When Mark and Glenn left for their workout I made my way up to Jeff's room. He answered the door almost immediately, pulling me to him in a hug.

"I was so worried about you last night."

"Sorry, they didn't explain what was going on until this morning. Mark said they told him just before his entrance that they changed things up."

"So what is going on?"

I explained what happened at the meeting.

"Punished?" he asked me.

"Yeah. I don't like the sound of that either."

"How long until you're back with us?"

"I'm not sure. They kinda left it open-ended."

I looked at my watch and realized I had to go before Mark and Glenn realized I was gone.

"Jeff, I have to go. I'm not supposed to be seen around you, Matt, or Amy. I'll see you at the arena."

I left his room and went back to the room I was sharing with Mark and Glenn. I grabbed my bags, getting ready for when they got back so we could leave for the arena.

When we got to the arena I went and picked up Jon. I introduced him to some of the wrestlers and he was absolutely in awe. I could tell he was having the time of his life. Just before the show started I took him outside and sat him in the section reserved for family since that was how I had gotten him the ticket to begin with.

The Brothers of Destruction had a match against Team X-Treme. I was forced to be their tag partner as part of the storyline, which Team X-Treme wasn't supposed to know. They were already in the ring when Kane entered. After Kane entered, the Undertaker's music started, but instead of his motorcycle, he dragged me down to the ring.

When we got to the ring, he threw me down in the middle of the ring where my stable where supposed to see the "bruises" I'd gotten from being in the hands of The Brothers of Destruction for a few days. They went to attack Undertaker and Kane but the ref got in the middle, sending both teams to their corners, leaving me and Lita in the middle of the ring when the bell rang. We looked at each other, shocked.

"I won't fight you, Tempest. Take my hand and come back with me," Lita said to me.

"I _can't_."

"So you'll fight us?"

"No."

"Fight her!" Undertaker yelled at me.

I flinched like I was supposed to. I was still on my knees on the mat. Lita reached out to touch me and I pulled back as if I was afraid of her.

"Fight her!" Undertaker yelled again, making me flinch again on cue.

This time when I refused he came into the ring, grabbed me, threw me into the ringpost in our corner and tagged himself in. He turned to look at Lita. Before he could move to attack her, I got up and hit him with a Swanton. Lita got to the corner and tagged in Matt as Kane dragged me out of the ring and knocked me out outside the ring, dragging me backstage.

Later in the show Undertaker and me filmed a backstage promo where they showed him beating me for going against him and Kane in the ring. When Lita, Matt, and Jeff, were in the ring cutting a promo about getting me back from the demented brothers, their promo was cut off to run the backstage promo. Lita screamed as she saw what I was being put through and all three remaining members of Team X-Treme ran backstage to find me, but they wouldn't.

After the show, I talked to Jon again, leaving him my number in case of emergency. I may not have known him, but he just seemed like a kid who needed somebody to give him a chance. After everything I'd been through, I wanted to give it to him.

Back on the road with Mark and Glenn, they were complimenting me on the authenticity of my reactions. All that was going through my head was they had no idea, no idea how often I'd found myself in similar situations with my own father and brother and then had to lie and hide it from my two best friends and their father.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: **

Two weeks after the Cincinnati show, Undertaker was put in a one on one match against Jeff. Matt and Lita were recovering from "injuries" they sustained at the hands of The Brothers of Destruction and couldn't come to ringside with him. I was forced to be in Undertaker's corner. By this point, Backlash was just days away and The Brothers of Destruction had already beaten The Hardy Boyz for the tag titles, so their feud was about to end completely. I was relieved.

Undertaker had dragged me down the ramp. I stumbled and fell, like I was supposed to, but he kept dragging me. When we got to the ring, he pulled the hood back from my head and showed my black hair. At least it would look that way to the fans. I was wearing a very secure wig. Nothing I could do would make it come off.

Jeff ran down the ramp without his music. He slid in the ring and went right for me. Before he could get to me, Undertaker grabbed him and threw him into the turnbuckle. At this point, I was supposed to show that I'd had enough. I went after Undertaker directly. I kicked his knees out from under him. Jeff got away from Undertaker, and pulled me out of his line of rage.

The crowd was going nuts. I was back with Jeff. Undertaker came and pulled Jeff away from me.

"I'll show you what will happen to your little boyfriend for defying me!"

Undertaker had Jeff up on his shoulder. He was going for snake eyes. I wasn't going to let him. When he tossed Jeff into the turnbuckle, he landed on me instead. We both hit the mat.

"Are you alright, C.J.?" Jeff whispered to me.

I nodded. He got up and quickly climbed the turnbuckle above me, hitting Undertaker with Whisper in the Wind. Before Undertaker could fully recover, I was on the top turnbuckle and I hit him with the Swanton Bomb. We were about to slide out of the ring when Undertaker sat straight up. Jeff pushed me out of the ring.

"Go, Tempest!"

"I'm not leaving you, Jeff! Not again!"

I slid back into the ring and when the Undertaker tried to get one of us, the other took him out from behind. He still got his fair shots on us, but our speed and agility held out long enough that we ultimately did get out of the ring.

Jeff kept his arm around me as he rushed us up the ramp. When we got backstage to the dressing room I'd shared with Team X-Treme for so long, I felt like I was finally home. Amy and Matt came over and hugged me.

"Did they really dye your hair black?" Amy asked.

I pulled the wig off.

"I wasn't going to let them dye my hair black, especially not right before they were gonna let me join you guys again. I told them I'd wear a wig, not dye it."

Jeff hugged me to him.

"We really missed having you around, C.J." he said to me.

"I missed being with all of you. Mark and Glenn are cool, but they're not like you guys. And I'm pretty sure I scare the hell out of Glenn."

"Why?" Matt asked.

"He called me Kane and Undertaker's new pet. I told him if he ever said that again he'd wake up a girl."

Matt and Jeff groaned in sympathy for Glenn. Amy put her arm around me and laughed. I struggled not to wince. Planned or not, I did get hurt while working with Mark and Glenn. Some of the bruises weren't make-up anymore.

"So I know Lita is facing Molly Holly on Sunday Night Heat and Matt is defending the European Championship in a Triple Threat against Christian and Eddie Guerrero. Why aren't you in a match, Jeff?"

"I asked for the week off. I knew they were going to give you the week off to 'recover' from being with Kane and Undertaker, so I asked if I could have the week to stay with you. McMahon gave it to me. I figured we could go hide out in Cameron."

I panicked. Home? Where my father and possibly my brother were?

"Can we go somewhere else? I don't want anyone seeing the last of these bruises from the storyline. I don't need to be told I can't handle this," I said, trying to keep the panic out of my voice.

"I guess that's okay. Where do you want to go?" Jeff asked me.

"Maybe just find a cabin in the woods we can rent for the week or something?"

"I'll see what I can do," he said.

"C.J., let's go get your things from the other locker room," Amy said to me, leading me away from Matt and Jeff.

I started walking down the corridor with her.

"C.J., is there anything you need to talk about?"

"About what?"

"Like why you refuse to go back to Cameron whenever you get time off?"

"I just prefer to stay out of there. Getting out of such a small town is a relief and I don't want to go back because I got hurt or something like that, Amy."

"Is that all?"

"Pretty much. I don't want to deal with the looks and the rumors that I couldn't hack it. Even if I stayed on the Hardy Compound the whole time it would get out eventually. Somebody would find out I was there and the rumor mill would start working overtime. I just don't want to deal with it."

"Okay. I just wanted to make sure because you know you can tell us anything."

"I know," I lied to her.

I couldn't tell them about my family. I'd been hiding it from Matt and Jeff almost my entire life. And Amy, she would go to the boys. I couldn't let her do that.

We got my stuff and went back to the guys. Jeff took my bags and put them with his. We started talking about the cabin he had managed to book while Amy and I were gone. Suddenly, Mark knocked on the door.

"Take care of her boys," he said to Matt and Jeff.

"What did I tell you and Glenn about treating me like I can't take care of myself?" I asked him.

"I know, but still, I know you took some pretty bad bumps over the past month. Let these boys take care of you like they should."

"We always do, Sir," Jeff said.

"It was great working with you, C.J. You're one tough woman in and out of the ring."

"Thanks, Mark. It was fun working with you, too. Maybe we can do it again sometime… Without me having to be ripped away from my stable."

We all laughed. Mark said good-bye and went back to his locker room. Jeff grabbed our things.

"Where are you heading, Bro?" Matt asked.

"We're gonna head out. Get a head start on our vacation since we're done for the night anyway."

I gave Matt and Amy hugs. Then Jeff did the same. We left the arena and got into the rental car he had rented for himself. This was a new beginning for me and Jeff. We'd never been away alone together.

When Jeff and I got to the cabin it was so peaceful. The first thing Jeff did was fix an ice bath for me, knowing I had been through hell for the last month. When I got out, I found he had cooked for us. I just stood there shocked.

"What?" he asked.

"You cooked."

"I do know how to do that, you know."

"You sure about that? I remember getting sick one time that you cooked instead of Matt."

He chased me and started tickling me which made me squeal and laugh.

"I was twelve! Aren't you ever gonna let me live that down?!"

"Never!"

He tickled me more and brought me over to the table. It was simple food, burgers and fries, so I really didn't think he could mess it up, but still. He grabbed two beers for us and we sat down to eat.

After dinner we bundled up and went outside to start a fire. I curled into Jeff as we sat by the fire. It was so simple, but it made me so much happier than he knew.

"So this is what you wanted instead of going home?"

"Yeah. The peace and quiet. If I went back to Cameron hurt you know I'd never hear the end of it. I just needed some time to relax and clear my thoughts."

"Do you mind that I invited myself?"

"No, I don't. I've always been able to lose myself in my thoughts, even if you're around. I'm that relaxed around you. The silences have never really been awkward between us. We can sit for hours without talking and its okay."

"That's true. I guess because neither of us ever really got that good at talking to other people. We always had our big brothers talking for us."

I fought the shiver that went down my back when he mentioned David. He did more than talk for me, but I would never let Jeff find that out as long as I lived.

"I just liked being around someone who got being the baby of the family and still knew how to give me my space. I know it's been hard for you since I joined the WWF, but that's how we've always been with each other."

"I'm only looking out for you, Court. It's not like down in OMEGA, where Matt decides what's gonna happen in all the matches. We're just told what needs to happen here and things go wrong. People can get hurt. I saw the bruises when you got in the ice bath, how bad are you really?"

"Were you watching me?"

He looked away from me in sudden shyness.

"Kinda. I was just worried about you."

"Jeff, I'm fine. Nothing happened that I couldn't handle. Honestly, Mark did his best to make sure things didn't get too out of hand."

"Your back looked a little bad."

"It'll go away by the end of the week."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah. I'm actually having a lot of fun working, Jeff."

He pulled me closer to him and tilted my face up to look at him. His green eyes were looking directly into my eyes. My breath caught as he leaned in to kiss me.

The rest of the world went away for me. I had wanted Jeff to kiss me since I was fourteen, but I refused to tell him how I felt, refused to complicate our relationship. Yet here he was, making the first move on me, something I'd wanted for nearly a decade.

I kissed him back and we just got lost in each other for a few minutes. My heart was racing. I was happy. He was finally seeing me as something other than his adoptive sister. It made me so happy. When we finally pulled apart, I couldn't stop smiling.

"What was that for?" I asked him.

"I've wanted to do that for a while, but I didn't want to do it while I was still dating someone else. You deserve better than that, Courtney."

"You left Beth because of me?"

"I realized that when I was with her I was spending more time thinking about you. So yeah, I broke up with her because we'd never really go anywhere if the person on my mind while I was with her wasn't Beth," he explained. "Is it okay that I kissed you?"

"Jeff, I've wanted you to notice me and kiss me for a long time. Too long."

"What do you mean?"

"I started feeling something for you when we were both still at Union Pines, Jeff. I just didn't want to say anything and make things weird between us. But why do you think none of _my_ relationships have ever worked out?"

"You were thinking about me?"

"Yes. You were the only one who ever really got me and didn't think I was weird. Even Matt thought I was weird sometimes. You were the only one who always understood me. It meant a lot to me, Jeff. _You_ meant a lot to me, Jeff. You still do."

"So when I kissed you at Wrestlemania…"

"I couldn't believe you were kissing me, but I didn't want to make a big deal about it because I figured out it was a storyline. It was hard to deal with, but I didn't want to let anything come between our friendship."

"But the way you feel about me…"

"I think you may be the first guy I've ever loved, Jeff. The only guy I've ever loved," I said to him, looking away from him, into the fire, unable to see how he reacted when he heard my admission.

He stayed silent for a minute. I was worried he was gonna reject me now because I overwhelmed him. Finally, he just pulled me to him and kissed me again, pulling me into his lap. When we pulled away from each other again, he snuggled me into him.

"Courtney, I'm sorry I was a fool not to see what an amazing person you've always been, what a perfect person you've always been for me. No matter what I've been through, you've been at my side, encouraging me to be my best for as long as I can remember. You've been right in front of me all this time, the person who always told me what I needed to hear, even if I didn't want to hear it, helping me be a better me. And I've never seen it. How can you love a fool like me?"

I just let him hold me. It felt safe and right in the moment.

"I love you because I do. I can't explain it, Jeff. There's just something about you. One day I just realized I loved you."

Jeff put me back down and put out the campfire. We walked back into the cabin, holding hands, with me leaning on him. When we got inside, I led Jeff to the bedroom and took off his t-shirt, admiring his body. I laid him down on the bed, rolling him on his stomach and started massaging his back.

As I massaged the tension out of his back, Jeff let out a moan. After I stopped massaging his back, he rolled over and pulled me down on the bed with him. He pulled my shirt off and started kissing my shoulders and neck. Before long he was kissing all of my bruises and for that time, none of them hurt.

Before things went any further on the first night he knew I felt anything for him, I stopped him, getting off the bed, grabbing clothes from my suitcase, and getting changed to something I could sleep in. He took off his pants and was in the bed in his boxers when I got back.

"Sorry," I said.

"Why are you sorry, Court?"

"I know you were starting to get worked up and in the mood but I stopped you."

"You have every right to say no. Just because we were kissing and everything doesn't mean you have to sleep with me."

"I just don't want you to think I'm sending mixed signals to you. I told you I've loved you for years, but I'm just not ready to rush things that fast. I'm only just finding out you feel anything about me. The last thing I wanted to do is sleep with you essentially on the first night."

He pulled me down to the bed and kissed me again.

"For a girl who shows no fears, I can't believe you're so nervous around me."

"It's been hard to hide this from you for all of these years. I never thought you would see me as anything as the tagalong little sister your family adopted. Here I am, all these years later, and you're telling me that I was wrong."

He kissed me again then rolled over to turn out the lamp. While he did that I rolled onto my other side. When he rolled back over to face me, he pulled me closer to him, spooning me. It felt perfect to me.

"You need to stop selling yourself short, C.J. You really are so much than just my best friend," he whispered in my ear before kissing my neck and putting his head down on his pillow.

The week at the cabin was perfect. We went for walks in the woods, swimming in the lake we'd found, sat outside at the campfires at night. It was like the two of us were getting to know each other in a completely different way. By the end of the week, we knew each other very intimately and were more in sync with each other than we were before we went to the cabin. Neither of us wanted to leave our isolation, but we both knew we needed to go back to work.


End file.
